Staffing Proposals

McKnight’s reported that consumer advocates and health experts want to pass two staffing proposals after a new study. The study by the National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care cites the 2001 federal recommendation of a daily minimum standard of 4.1 hours of total direct care per resident.

For minimally safe care, every nursing home must provide 2.8 hours of care from certified nursing assistants, 0.75 hours from RNs and 0.55 hours from licensed practical/vocational nurses to ensure quality of care.

Biden’s Build Back Better Act calls for the Health and Human Services secretary to conduct a study to determine the ideal minimum nurse staff-to-resident ratio for SNFs. It also requires nursing homes to have at least one RN present 24 hours per day. That would be an increase from the current federal requirement of eight hours.

“Weak federal staffing requirements combined with woefully inadequate state standards can lead to dangerously low staffing levels and deadly consequences for residents.”

Robyn Grant, report author and Consumer Voice’s director of public policy and advocacy, said. The full report is available here.